Fluff And Stuff
by SiennaBrown
Summary: A few short cute things involving Adrien and Marinette. Mostly school, cute events, and enough fluff to make a cat hack up a hairball. (v sporadic upd8s sorry)
1. Chapter 1

Marinette stared at her closet door. It was a nice door, with little flower stickers attached to the painted wood. It was pink, much like everything in her room was. She was sitting in her computer chair. Eyes firmly glued to her closet door. It was a great door.

"Marinette? Are you okay?"

"Door! I- I mean, Do you want a drink? Adrien?" The dark haired girl scrambled to her feet. Her crush was sitting on the floor with his textbook open. Because they were supposed to be doing a project together. She couldn't turn her computer on with him in the room, though. Her background image was a collage of his modelling photos. That felt a little weird now that he was in her room in person.

"I think I'm alright. Thank you, though."

"Good, great! I'll just get one for myself, then." Marinette nearly sprinted into the hallway to keep the blonde from seeing her blush. Gosh, she was a mess. She got a drink from the kitchen, firmly ignoring her mother's wiggling eyebrows.

By the time she had finished, she was a little calmer and definitely less red. _You can do it, he's just a boy. You can do it, he's just a boy!_ The blue eyed girl trotted up the stairs, resolve holding firm until she went back into her bedroom.

Adrien was laying on his stomach, ankles crossed in the air as he chewed scholastically on his pencil's eraser. Even when he wasn't posing for a camera he looked like a model. Marinette shook her head, then turned her computer on.

The first thing she did was change the background into a pink and white polka-dot type thing. That, at least, matched the decor of her room and made her feel less creepy about herself. Then she got to looking things up and sharing information with her project partner.

After an hour, all the butterflies that came with talking to him were gone and she was on a roll with the powerpoint presentation. Everything was clicking into place until the blonde hovered over her shoulder and started offering advice on what theme to use.

She felt her cheeks get red. Crud.

"And if you move that picture here, we'll have room for that errant bullet point!"

She pressed a cold hand to her cheek and moved some things around.

"Are you okay? Do you have a fever?"

Adrien's dreamy green eyes appeared in front of her face. He was close enough to kiss… Which was way too close. Marinette tried to roll the seat backwards a little bit, but his feet stopped the wheels from moving more than a centimeter. She looked down at her lap.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I can go if you're not feeling well." He had concern all over his face. It was adorable.

"Really! I just want to get this done!" She closed her eyes.

"Okay, then." He stepped away to pack his notes into his bag. Marinette took a few seconds to get her anxious heart to calm down. She finished the powerpoint half an hour after that, just in time for her mother to knock on the door.

"Yeah?" Marinette shut her computer off as Adrien tugged his backpack onto a shoulder.

"Dinner is ready for you two! Come eat!"

Marinette hadn't been expecting her crush to stay until dinner. She glanced at the blonde, who looked away.

"I can eat at home, honestl-"

"No, you should stay! Mom's a great cook, you'll love it!" She knew she was starting to flush again. Ugh.

"Well, I suppose she did go to the trouble of making a portion for me… I don't want to be rude."

The dark haired girl gave him a cheery smile, "That's the spirit! Come on!" She opened the door for him, then followed him to the table.

Dinner was incredibly quiet, but not in a bad way. Well, it was a little awkward, but she didn't think that it was his fault. She decided to start up a conversation.

"So, uh, we don't get to talk all that much, Adrien! Are you excited for winter break next week?"

He shrugged, "I mean, I have a lot of work during the break. Since there's no school and everything."

"Ooooh…" That made sense. Being a teenage model was hard work.

"How about you?"

"Oh, I'm just celebrating the holidays with my family. You know. Maybe you could join us for ice skating on New Years?" Why did she say that?

"If your family doesn't mind." _Stop talking, Marinette!_

"If you have time." She shut her mouth. Adrien looked genuinely happy, though.

"I'd love to! I'll send you an e-mail if I have time."

Did she just score some sort of date with Adrien?

"Sounds great! I can't wait!" She just scored some kind of date with Adrien!

They finished eating and chatted some more, then he had to go home. Marinette shook his hand and they wished each other luck on the project. They would do well. It was impossible for her to think negatively when she was so happy!


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey Marinette!_

 _Looks like I don't have work until 9pm on new years! As long as skating gets done around 8 or so, I should be good to join you guys! :3_

 _-Adrien_

Marinette sighed dreamily at her phone. Which held the email that she had gotten. From Adrien. Confirming their… date? Since her parents were going to be there, could she really call it that? She switched from staring at her phone to staring at her pink walls. Which were devoid of any incriminating posters. After she'd switched her computer background, it had seemed kind of silly to keep her idolizing posters around. After all, was she crushing on him personally, or just the idea of having a crush? The dark haired girl blinked, one eye squishing slightly shut in the most confused stare she had ever given her ceiling. Maybe she was just a teenage girl and sometimes teenaged girls were creepy. That seemed fair. She re-read the email.

"Marinette, are you patrolling today? Or are you sighing? For another four hours?" Tikki hovered over her face, incredulous and motherly at the same time. Marinette frowned.

"Why can't I do both?" She gently rolled off her bed and stood up, ready to transform as soon as Tikki was.

"Because the sighing is getting on my nerves. Let's go, little miss daydreamer." After the gentle scolding, Marinette was Ladybug, and she was crawling out her loft room through the roof. She kept her sighing to herself, beat up some bad guys (just the regular kind, no sign of Hawkmoth today), and swung through the beautiful streets of Paris on her yo-yo. Chat, who usually messaged her while she was patrolling (how had he managed to figure out her schedule, anyway?) was eerily silent. She paused on a rooftop and sent him a quick hello. Then waited. And waited. When an hour had gone by, she gave up on expecting a response and settled on returning to her room.

Only to realize that she had never answered Adrien's message. Crud! She de-transformed (reformed?) and gave Tikki some cookies before unlocking her phone and typing a quick message back to her blonde crush.

 _Ah sorry for the late reply Adrien!_

 _We usually go out to eat around 5:30 (early, I know!), then head straight to the outdoor rink! You can leave whenever you have to! :D_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Marinette_

She checked it over for typos, but left the obscene amount of exclamation marks in. As much as she hated to admit it, Marinette was a bit loud around close friends. And, if she wanted Adrien to like her, despite her shyness and all that jazz, she had to be true to herself. If she had sent this same message to Alya, the dark haired girl wouldn't have even blinked at those. She sent the message.

A few minutes later her phone buzzed with another email alert.

 _Marinette,_

 _Does this mean I'm joining you and your parents for dinner again lol? Should I meet u at ur house or at the restaurant? Or at the rink, if I'm not invited to dinner (lol)? X3_

He didn't sign it that time. She smiled at her phone again. Did that mean they were getting closer? He said "lol" a lot for someone who had a strict upbringing. Marinette chewed her lower lip as she responded.

 _Adrien,_

 _You are welcome to join us for dinner! I'm not sure of the restaurant yet, so maybe meet at my house at 5? If you don't want to (or simply can't) join us for food, meeting at the rink would also work!_

 _-Mari_

Once again, she checked for typos. Since he hadn't signed his, she also went for an informal ending. Tikki mumbled something about how obvious Marinette's lovestruck face was, but the girl didn't listen too hard. Mostly because the comment was muffled and distorted by how many cookies Tikki had in her mouth at once. And then she got another response.

 _Marinette,_

 _Is Mari ur nickname? It's so cute! I'll see you at 5pm at ur place then. Can't wait! ;3_

She squealed a little bit out of pure happiness and giddiness, then trotted down her ladder so she could add the date to her little calendar. Then she got to thinking about what to wear. Oh. Oh God. What _was_ she going to wear? Did she have time to sew anything? No. Definitely not. Maybe she could find a cute outfit in her closet…

She opened her sketchbook anyway, and started sketching. Marinette loved the feeling of pencil scratching across paper. Loved the way abstract lines and shaped could come together to form clothes. She sank into her chair, totally engrossed with creating the perfect New Year's Skating Outfit.


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette tugged her fuzzy pink earmuffs on, then tightened her skate laces. Adrien hadn't rented his yet, and her parents had already joined the other families that were on the ice. The dark haired girl caught sight of her crush as he started to walk back towards the bench she was sitting on. She waved a little, and he waved back. Her cheeks flushed.

"You'll have to forgive me, I don't think I'm going to be very good at this." He flopped onto the bench and grappled with the extra long laces on his skates. Marinette smiled a little.

"Oh, it's not too bad. You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly."

Adrien smiled a little, a rosy blush dancing across his cheeks. The dark haired teen felt like she was going to melt. He finished tying his laces, then shakily stood up. Marinette stood a little closer so that she could catch him if he fell. They walked slowly towards the ice. She caught sight of her parents and waved at them as they skated past. She glanced over at Adrien, who looked a little nervous.

"It really is easier on the ice."

He shrugged, "let's get out there, then."

Marinette smiled and helped him onto the ice. She blushed every time their hands met, which was often because he literally couldn't skate. It was a good thing she had a good sense of balance or-

She scrapped the rest of that thought as she missed her footing and they both tumbled to the ice. "Oh, no, Adrien are you okay? I'm sorry, I lost my balance!" People skated past them as she carefully scooted a little closer to him. He just laughed.

"That was kind of scary! Here, you get up first, let's see how long we can stay upright."

She smiled as his teeth showed through his cheerful grin. The fact that he had fallen didn't seem to faze him at all. That was impressive, especially from someone who was expected to be perfect at all times. Marinette had honestly expected him to be better at skating than she was. It… was kind of nice that he wasn't, though. The dark haired girl stood up, using the wall for support, then adjusted her little earmuffs.

Then it was Adrien's turn to get to his feet. He slipped more than once, but eventually he made it to standing. Marinette clapped for him, then took one of his hands (with minimal blushing!) and helped him get a feel for how to move his feet.

"It's like roller skating."

Adrien glanced up, rosy cheeks illuminating his bright green eyes. His smile was small and sheepish. "I haven't done that, either."

Marinette blinked, mouth forming a surprised "oh" shape. "Really?"

Adrien slipped again, but managed to stay upright. "R-really. This is dangerous!" He laughed again as more people skated by. Marinette held his hand, probably too tight.

"In an hour, you'll be fine. Trust me." She smiled as they made a second circuit around the rink.

He truly did get the hang of it within the first hour. Marinette sat on a bench with a paper cup full of hot cocoa, eyes glued to Adrien's angular form as he sped around the rink. Her parents were also out on the ice. They looked so happy together. She hazarded another sip from the steaming cup, gaze averting back to Adrien. He seemed to be lost in the exercise, focused purely on what he was doing rather than who was on the ice with him. She almost wished that she could take a photo.

No wonder he's a model, she sighed to herself as her cocoa slowly burned her fingertips through the cup.

And then his intense green eyes locked onto her gaze. And didn't look away. She shuffled her fingers over her cup and smiled, a deeper blush hitting her cheeks than the cold was able to manage. And… He smiled back. Then he slowed to a stop and climbed off the ice to go join her on her bench.

"I was wondering where you wandered off to!" He plopped down, thick jacket rustling as it brushed against her arm. Her hot cocoa came dangerously close to spilling.

"I was cold!" She laughed and shuffled to give him more space. He was alternating between staring at her and staring at her cup."

She raised an eyebrow. "It's hot chocolate, do you want some?"

He chuckled, "No, no, I don't want any. I was just wondering how you had any room for that after all the food we ate at dinner."

Marinette moved her cocoa out of his reach, "what do you mean all the food we ate at dinner? I didn't eat that much!" She pretended to glare when Adrien started laughing.

"Mari, you ate all the Ratatouille on your plate, as well as half of your mother's. And then we got churros on the way here, and you ate half of your dad's." She tried to interject, but he cut her off, still grinning. "And I'm being conservative saying that was a half! It was more like five-sixths!"

Now she was able to defend herself. "Okay, but we burnt most of those calories already! How are you not hungry?"

He laughed, then went back to staring at the cocoa. "Actually, can I try it?"

Marinette blinked. "So, now instead of harassing me, we want to actually drink my drink?"

"Just a sip, I want to know if it's good or not!"

"No, Adrien, this one is mine! They're super cheap, just go get one of your own!" She held it even further out of his reach. He lunged for it anyway, exposing a solid chunk of smooth porcelain skin under all his layers. She blushed and lost her grip on the cup. It was probably a good thing Adrien had grabbed it from her. Her face felt ridiculously warm.

"I didn't think you would give it up so easily after all that. Do you want it back? I can give it back. Mari? Marinette? You okay?"

"A- yeah, yeah I'm fine-" She cleared her throat a little dramatically in an attempt to dispel the afterimages of what she had just seen. "And, go ahead. You aren't going to drink the whole thing, right?"

Adrien pursed his lips over the edge of the cup. "Nu."

Marinette narrowed her eyes.

Adrien took a small sip, then handed the cup back. "Not bad."

He seemed satisfied. Marinette let her face relax as they let the conversation drift. The more she hung out with Adrien, the less awkward she felt. It was like talking with Alya, but different. More… hm. She couldn't put her finger on it. She still got butterflies in her stomach, of course, but they were getting more subdued. Maybe she didn't need to label it. She still wanted to kiss him. But, only if he wanted to kiss her back.

Then she started wondering if he liked her that way, too. She shifted her hands so that she could hold the cup with one and rest the other on the bench.

And then Adrien's hand was over hers. She felt a flush rise to her face as she turned to look at him. He grinned.

"Look, there's your parents!" He pointed with his other hand. Marinette couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Part of her had been hoping for a kiss.

After what felt like too short a time, Adrien had to split. Mari and her parents wished him good luck and a happy new year. He returned the sentiments with a sunny smile, despite how dark the sky was. Mari kept the cup her hot chocolate was in. Maybe that was weird, too.


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette felt the air get slammed out of her lungs as she hit pavement. Tikki screeched in her mind. _Marinette, get up! Move!_ But she couldn't breathe. Everything kind of hurt. At the last second, she managed to roll over. A metallic whoosh whizzed by her ear and shattered the pavement she had been inhabiting seconds ago. Bits of gravel and dust flew into her hair and pelted her skin. Blinking the sting out of her eyes and struggling to draw breath, she stood up and made a tactical retreat.

Hawk Moth had made a real doozie of a monster this time, and Chat Noir was nowhere to be seen. Even though she had been sending him distress signals for an hour. Mari ducked into a restaurant as the giant poleaxe her opponent wielded swung by her again. She was covered in cuts and bruises, and something was definitely off in her right knee. She frantically looked around, trying to devise a victory plan. The most she was able to manage was "would he let me surrender if I waved a white tablecloth around?" The window across from her shattered, so she jumped behind the bar-

And came face to face with Chat. "It's about time you got here, I've been getting my butt handed to me for an hour!" She whispered, a little peeved at her partner. Chat shrugged.

"I couldn't get away. Tell me, does this guy have a weakness?" He leaned until he could see the Akuma's location in the mirror over the bar. Glass crunched behind them.

"Close and mid ranges are deadly, to say the least." She whispered and rubbed her throbbing knee. "We have to get him from far away, but I dropped my yo-yo last time I fell. I need it back if I'm going to be of any use."

"I'm blind, not deaf Ladybug. Hand over the Miraculous. Now. Maybe I'll spare you."

She nudged Chat towards the exit and stood up, hands aloft. Hopefully he understood her silent "bring me my yo-yo." The blonde scampered away. She focused on her punk-rock looking opponent.

"I have no weapons. Please, just hear me ou-" She dove behind the bar as the axe came her way once more.

"No! I'm tired of hearing people! I want to see again!" And then it tore through the bar and her collarbone. Marinette screamed, pain ripping through skin and bone. Spots filled her vision as the weapon drew back.

 _Marinette, stay with me! It'll be ok!_ Tikki's voice floated through her ears, as did I high pitched keening noise.

"Wha-"

Hey buddy, I gotta _axe_ you a ques- oh God!" Chat Noir went from smug to panicked in about half a second. Marinette vaguely heard her yo-yo hit the mirror overhead. Her brain felt too light. Something bumped her leg.

The yo-yo! She leaned forward to grab it, world momentarily going dark and hazy as she did so. And then it was in her hands. Now she just had to think of a plan. Marinette glanced around the bar. There, a cart full of ice! Maybe they could get their opponent to lose his footing! She didn't have enough strength to dump it all out, though. She gripped her yo-yo. Maybe all she needed was leverage.

Chat tried to make another axe pun and failed while Mari managed to rig the ice cart so it could be tipped with one hand. Her other arm was shrieking in pain. From fingertips to spine. Finally, she twisted the handle and the cart spun onto it's side, ice spilling over the tile floor. Chat started to slip as well, then caught himself by digging his staff into the wall.

"My Lady-" he started, concern etched in his face.

"Can it, grab the sunglasses. That's where the Akuma is." She panted, injured arm pulled tight against her chest. Her stomach was beginning to complain about how much pain she was in. Chat did as he was told, grabbing the glasses and cracking them. A moth flew out. Ladybug caught it and purified it, then did the lucky charm thing so that everything would go back to normal. Her shoulder knitted itself back together, same as the building they stood in. It still hurt, though. And she was willing to bet that it left a scar. The larger wounds always did. Chat crept closer, eyebrows holding a worried shape.

"My Lady, are you sure you're alright? You were bleeding a fair amount."

Marinette tried to offer him a reassuring smile, but a twinge in her collarbone turned it into a grimace. "I-I'll be fine. Don't you want to fix your hair before you go out? It's windswept, but not in a naturally tousled way." She raised an eyebrow as she finally got a good look at her companion. All of his blonde locks were swept over to one side of his face. And… she squinted. Yup. That was both gel and hairspray. His hair would not be moving.

"What did you do, dive through a cloud of hair products before coming here?" She tried to keep her tone light and joking, but pain made her wince. Her earrings beeped in her ears.

Chat rolled his eyes. "I wish this look had been unintentional. Here, I'll head out so you can change back. Just…" He paused, a hand outstretched. He slowly drew it back towards himself.

"Let me know if you make it home safe, ok? That was…" He flinched, just a little. "That was a lot of blood." Marinette stared at the floor, knowing that it had just been covered with pools of her own blood.

"I will." Chat bounced, leaving Marinette to change back in the restroom.

It wasn't until she had trudged halfway home that she realized she and Adrien had to present their project in class the next day. Winter break had flown by in no time flat. And now her shoulder hurt.

Tikki sighed from Marinette's purse, contentedly nibbling on some bread that Mari had taken from the restaurant. "Marinette, we have to stop taking hits like that."

"Scold me after I fail my project, please." She snuck through her parent's bakery, then hid in the bathroom across from her own room to assess the damage.

Yup, she had a raised and discolored scar going from just below her collarbone to mid shoulder blade on her back. Now she had to be careful of covering that in public. Alya would notice the difference, as would her huffed and tugged her shirt back on, then hid in her room to study before their presentation the next day.

Despite her injury, she couldn't let Adrien down!


End file.
